Critter Hut, located in Goddard, Kansas, is a small family breeder raising a variety of animals. Mice, rats, degus, gerbils, hamsters, and sugar gliders can be found here, along with some chipmunks, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hedgehogs, short-tailed opossums, spiny mice, lovebirds, diamond doves, finches, button quail, and cockatiels. Critter Hut has mice of virtually any color, including metallic gold and silver. The rats come in a wide range of colors as well, including black, white, gray, blue, and platinum. They also have hairless and dumbo rats. Licensed by the USDA, Critter Hut has been selling animals to local pet stores for more than a year. Most of their mice and rats are sold for food, but the cream of the crop and the exotic rats, such as blues and dumbos, are sold in the pet trade, as are the other small animals. According to Critter Hut, "We generally offer a healthier and better natured pet to local pet stores than what is shipped in from large commercial breeders." Critter Hut custom builds most of their cages. These cages are rack style, where the food and drinking valve are suspended above the cage. The cage can be slid in and out of the rack for easy cleaning. They do have traditional wire cages stacked three or four high to house the sugar gliders and some of the other animals. They keep 5-10 female rats and one male in a 28" x 20" cage. When a rat becomes pregnant, she is moved to a smaller individual cage where she has her litter and stays with the babies until they are weaned. The mice reside in smaller cages that measure 14" x 8.5" and consist of 4-5 females and one male. Critter Hut has been using an Edstrom automated watering system for nearly two years. They have approximately 430 cages hooked up to the watering system, most of these housing rats and mice. They began by using the one-gallon storage tank for their water supply, but as Critter Hut grew, they switched to the float tank. This year they installed a basic pressure regulator/filter station. Most of the their critters drink from the Vari-Flo valve, except for the degus and guinea pigs which drink from the Vari-Flo valve with stainless steel stem guard (guinea pig valve). The playguard prevents the animals from playing with the valve and getting their cages wet. Critter Hut uses a combination of 3/8" and 3/16" flex-tubing for their distribution piping. The main water line is made of 3/8" flex-tubing and loops around the animal room, while 3/16" flex-tubing is connected to each rack or set of cages. To sanitize their watering system, Critter Hut flushes the main water line daily, and the 3/16" lines are flushed once a week. "We have been so happy with the system. It saves us at least 6 hours of work each and every day, assuming you can clean and fill a water bottle in 60 seconds. It is the only reason we have been able to grow to where we are now, producing up to 200 rats and 400 mice per week. For a part-time family business, it would not be physically possible for us to care for this many animals without the watering system," says Critter Hut. Click here to visit Critter Hut

A chipmunk drinking from the Vari-Flo valve. The drinking valve is attached vertically from the top of the cage. A mouse stands on its hind legs to get a drink.